An Oregon Public Broadcasting analysis of news and social media images found that two men who participated in an effort to storm the Oregon Capitol on Dec. 21 also appear to have been part of the mob that stormed the U.S. Capitol last week.
OPB reported Sunday that David Anthony Medina, 31, of Sherwood, was broadcast on ITV News standing outside House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s office while it was looted on Wednesday. He later appeared to acknowledge entering the Capitol building in a social media post.
OPB also identified Medina as one of the people who attempted to push past Oregon State Police on Dec. 21 when demonstrators supporting President Donald Trump and opposing coronavirus restrictions breached the Oregon Capitol.
Medina could not be reached by The Oregonian/OregonLive on Sunday. According to OPB, Medina is the organizer of Oregonians for Trump and the former campaign manager for Anna Kasachev, who lost her bid in November to represent Woodburn in the Oregon House.
Another man who appeared to have entered the U.S. Capitol last week also participated in the Dec. 21 unrest in Salem, where he at one point pushed a photographer for the Statesman Journal. OPB said it has been unable to identify the man by name but that they did share distinctive clothing and tattoos.
A third man, Springfield resident Tim Davis, 59, also appeared in images on the steps of the U.S. Capitol on Wednesday, but Davis told OPB he did not enter the building. Davis was also among the group that gained entry to the Oregon Capitol on Dec. 21, OPB reported.
None of the men so far face criminal charges for their participation in the events at the Oregon Capitol or U.S. Capitol, according to OPB.
Five people died in Wednesday’s violent siege of the U.S. Capitol. The armed insurrection temporarily halted Congress from certifying the electoral college votes for President-elect Joe Biden, but lawmakers returned to the Capitol to affirm the results of the election later that night.
Three Oregonians were arrested at the U.S. Capitol on Wednesday. Kristina and Yevgemya — or Yevgeniya — Malimon, both of Portland, were arrested for unlawful entry and curfew violation. Rodney Taylor of Bandon was also arrested for curfew violation. None were accused of entering the Capitol building, however — instead, they were arrested on the grounds.
Oregon U.S. Attorney Billy Williams said Thursday that Oregonians who traveled to Washington, D.C., and participated in the insurrection would be prosecuted in Oregon to the “fullest extent of the law.”
A legislator, Rep. Mike Nearman, R-Independence, is under investigation by the Oregon State Police after video showed he let right-wing demonstrators into the statehouse Dec. 21.
